Pole dancing instructor Danielle Poletto will show how it’s done at this ladies-only event on Feb 10 from 7-9p at the Gena Lisa Lingerie shop in Nyack.

“It’s all about teaching women how to feel comfortable with their bodies,” Poletto said. “Plus, it’s a terrific work-out and self-esteem builder and you get to have great fun while doing it!”

Pole dancing classes have become an exceedingly popular fitness practice, attracting both women and men (not as spectators, but as avid participants) because of their physical regimen, sensual moves and core building benefits. From private studios to major gym chains, pole dancing classes are hot.

Ms. Poletto, who is a sculptress and welder, has been teaching the art of “vertical exercise” for years. She became hooked when a friend took her to her first pole dancing class after a relationship ended badly.

“I was so down on myself,” Poletto said. “Learning pole dancing positively changed my outlook of who I am as a woman. I do it for me, and only me.”

Though many public classes are co-ed, Ms. Poletto’s are for women only and are usually conducted in the safety and privacy of the participants’ homes.

The class consists of floor work (think of it as sensual Pilates), chair work, and of course, exercises around her portable pole, all to music. Class sizes are kept purposely small and you must be at least 18 to participate.

“I am always excited to see the amazing transformations women go through when doing the exercises. The classes are a confidence booster and an opportunity to appreciate yourself,” Poletto said.

Gena Lisanti, owner of Gena Lisa Lingerie,  says she shares the same goal of helping women achieve self-acceptance and well-being around their bodies. “I thought it was a perfect fit to have Ms. Poletto bring her positive attitude and sumptuous steps to my shop, giving the ladies of Rockland a special, Valentine holiday treat,” she said.

Participants are encouraged to wear clothing that makes them feel liberated (even if it’s something below the surface that no one else can see) and heels with straps.  Or just come by to observe, ask questions and share in a fun ladies night out.

Visit Gena Lisa Lingerie at 17 North Broadway in Nyack or call (845) 358-4400 for more information.  For more information on Ms. Poletto’s private pole dancing classes, visit PinUpPoleGirls.com.

Can being fitted for the right size bra change your life?

Gena Lisanti, owner of the Nyack’s Gena Lisa Lingerie, believes it can.

“Many women wear undergarments that are the wrong size,”  Lisanti explained.  “They can’t wait to get home and remove their bras because they feel so uncomfortable.”

She should know: Lisanti recalls having to constantly adjust her bra and yank up her falling straps. “It made me so cranky,” she said.

That was before she decided to be fitted and, much to her surprise, discovered she was wearing the wrong size. Once corrected, she began to see herself in a new way.

“Being properly fitted for the right size bra improves your posture and breathing,” she said. “When you feel more comfortable with your body, you tend to carry and present yourself in a more positive way.”

And to Lisanti, the most important thing is to help women feel at ease with their bodies.

“It makes me so happy to see a woman’s eyes light up when the right bra fits,” she added.

Note: it’s never to late to make the switch. She recently fitted an 87-year-old woman who looked in the mirror and said, “Now that’s the way I am supposed to look!”

The core of Lisanti’s business philosophy is to fit women and teens of every age by providing personal, caring and individualized service.

Prior to Nyack, she was co-owner of a lingerie shop in Armonk, NY—but her heart had always been set on running a business across the river.

“I have always loved and supported Nyack and saw that it was lacking a real lingerie shop,” she said. “I set my intention to have one here someday.”

In June of 2009, she opened a shop in the Woolworth building on Main St., and moved to her current location on North Broadway in April of 2010.

Lisanti has a particular fondness for the women of Nyack because she believes they are strong individuals who really enjoy expressing their uniqueness and creativity. She took time to learn what the ladies of Rockland wanted and needed—and the result is a soothing and tastefully decorated shop that features feminine pieces reminiscent of that old, Hollywood-style elegance, but are also comfortable, versatile and durable.

For some, lingerie may automatically mean unaffordable luxury items. But Lisanti counteres:

“You don’t need to spend a lot of money on many pieces. Buy fewer, good quality items that fit well. If you rotate and wash them by hand, they will last much longer.”

And although the word lingerie has evolved to evoke intimacy, it really derives from the French word linge, “washables,” as in faire le linge, or “to do the laundry,” and from lin, for washable linen.

The Gena Lisa Lingerie shop offers a terrific selection of bras, slips, camisoles, chemises, and panties made of cotton, silk and organic fibers like bamboo, which feel comfortable against your skin.

But that’s not all: you’ll also find wonderful robes, pajamas, swimwear, lounge wear, resort dresses, wrap tops, boxer shorts, draw string pants and yoga attire that easily transfers from doing downward facing dog to picking up the kids from school to having dinner with friends.

And Lisanti has a keen eye for mixing and matching items.

“Everything I carry can be worn on it’s own, with jeans or layered up,” she explained.  “You can get great pieces that have multiple use.”

Lisanti so loves Nyack that she is even considering transforming the space above the shop—which offers relaxing river views—into an art gallery that would feature local artists and her family’s artwork. Her father and two brothers are all very talented and professional artists.

Conversely, Lisanti has always been the business person of her family. When she was a small girl, she transformed her bedroom into a little shop where she pretended to sell ceramic animals, jewelry and art. She used monopoly money as currency, storing it in a little box from which she made her imaginary transactions.

Even now, she does not use a cash register, preferring the simplicity of a decorated box instead. She remembers telling her parents that someday she was going to have a real shop of her own—well she did it; and how lucky for us she chose Nyack to actualize her dream.

Come in anytime for a personalized fitting by the warm and welcoming Gena Lisanti.

And if you have bras that are in good, clean condition that are no longer being used, please bring them in and she will donate them to those in need.

The shop is located at 17 North Broadway, Nyack. Visit their website for more information.

Knitting isn’t just for grandmas.

In fact, at Knitting Nation, Nyack’s very own knitting, crocheting and spinning center, you’ll find a variety of women. Teens and girls coming together to partake in this more than 1000-year-old craft.

Jane Saffir, who opened her charming and colorful shop seven years ago, says that knitting’s popularity tends to fluctuate, but that it really hit a stride back in 2003 with the publication of Debbie Stoller’s irreverent and now classic, Stitch ‘N Bitch—it not only made knitting a trés cool thing to do, but encouraged women to connect via knitting circles, both live and on the web.

And Saffir believes that we are in the midst of a knitting upswing once again.

“Art and craft activities resurface during tough economic times,” she said. “People prefer to make things for themselves rather then to spend money on expensive items or luxury vacations.”

Knitting’s popularity may ebb and flow with the times, but Jane’s passion for it has remained a constant, starting when she was a child making miniature dogs out of yarn pom poms.

“I have a vivid memory of going into a yarn store when I was very young and being mesmerized by all the colors and textures and absolutely loving them,” she explained. “I was hooked.”

But unlike many of us who share in a lineage of knitters, Saffir’s mother and grandmother did not teach her how to knit. She taught herself by following patterns in a book. (And she is a lefty!)

But it was an ad in a 1967 issue of McCall’s Needlework & Crafts, which promoted starting your own knitting business, that really planted the idea of owning her own shop in her teenage imagination. Years later, when she retired from being a New York City schoolteacher, she pondered what to do next in life.

Around the same time, her youngest daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 26.  She’s fine now, but the experience made them both very aware of their mortality, and reinforced the idea that you have to go for what you are dreaming of now. Saffir actualized her teenage wish by opening Knitting Nation with a partner.

“I realized then, it was now or never,” Saffir said.

Because of its very warm and welcoming atmosphere, Knitting Nation is a place where women can join in community, make new friends and share more than just tips on casting, purling and binding off.

Aspiring knitters often come into the shop feeling like they aren’t skilled enough, but under the cozy blanket of Saffir’s affable and encouraging nature, defenses easily come down and most women learn not only that they can knit, but they enjoy it. Knitting offers tremendous gratification right before your eyes, as a skein of yarn is transformed into your own, unique creation, like a personal scarf, sweater or hat.

In addition to the incredible sense of fulfillment, there are many other benefits to knitting. It is meditative, sensual, even medicinal—one of Jane’s students who suffers from high blood pressure reported that her pressure went down ten points while knitting.

It is easily portable, and teaches the pleasures of patience; whereas most of us quickly frustrate when being made to wait for just about anything these days, Saffir welcomes it. She pulls out her yarn and needles and converts her waiting time into creative time.

“I loved sitting around at jury duty because I got to knit all day,” she said.

But don’t think for a moment that knitting is always sedentary. Saffir successfully combined her love of knitting with her need to exercise.

“During the summer, I take walks around Rockland Lake, which seem interminable to me,” she said. “So I decided to knit while walking.”

Using a circular needle (two needles connected by a flexible cable), and a wrist gadget to hold her ball of yarn, she knit sideways so she didn’t have to change rows too often,—it made her walks more enjoyable and productive.

Saffir considers herself to be a “knitting curator,” a caring facilitator who offers a public service to the knitting community. She is deeply committed to preserving the tradition and passing it on to young people.

“To be able to make and create things yourself is wonderful skill,” she said. “It is an important message to teach today’s youth.”

She is not alone in this quest. Knitters of every age and from all over the world can benefit from the many wonderful on-line, knitting communities. Sites like Ravelry allow you to share tips, post projects, ask questions and receive feedback.

Knitting Nation offers a variety of classes for beginners, advanced students and children too, in either private or group settings. Basic knitting, crocheting, felting and a whole lot more are available. And yes, there is even a class for lefties.

(Visit Knitting Nation’s website for a full schedule of classes.)

And when you are ready to explore and indulge in the many fine types of yarn available at the shop, you will be amazed at the selection. Choose from the more traditional types like wool and cotton, the ever popular and sensuous cashmere, or the new more exotic fibers like hemp, linen and bamboo, as well as organic and naturally dyed.

"Hey...I want to come too!"

by Rosemary Serluca-Foster

Though signs were posted at the May Street Fair, I apparently did not notice that pups (or any other animal, amphibian or reptile) were banned from our local street fairs.

Come on, really? I see people with their dogs all the time!

If you’re like me, every time you leave the house without your favorite, furry friend (and I don’t mean your spouse or partner), you feel a pang of guilt for not taking her with you. Ginger, our Buddha-natured Shih Tzu, follows me to the door, sits on her haunches and stares up with yearning eyes that resemble gargantuan, chocolate-malted milk balls, making my exit even more heart wrenching.

So, whenever there’s an opportunity to bring her somewhere, especially to an outdoor event, I get very excited, my disproportionate guilt assuaged for the moment. Such opportunities come right here in Nyack whenever there is a street fair. Or so I thought.

I have taken her a few times now and here’s how it goes: she doesn’t like to walk in crowds; people nearly always accidentally step on her; I inevitably end up carrying her because she tires out; my arms begin to ache and get sweaty from transporting her.

So, who’s having fun? Certainly not Ginger. And at the last fair, I was very graciously informed (and not given a ticket) that even though Ginger is adorable, and yes I was carrying her, I was still breaking the ordinance.

“Didn’t you read the signs?”

“Signs? What signs?”

“The ones posted all over place that say no animals allowed.”

I guess we see what we want to see, when and if we want to see it.

So now I know. And, guess what? I totally agree. Here’s what Chapter 17 Article III of the Nyack Village Code has to say on the matter of dogs and street fairs:

The Village Board, having reviewed the matter of the presence of dogs and other animals at street fairs and other authorized assemblies, has concluded that recent experiences wherein domestic animals have been brought by their owners to street fairs and other places of assembly which occasion high degrees of pedestrian density have involved a potential for accident or danger which is unacceptable.

So this Sunday, July 18th, as you head out the door to our fun and fab street fair, please leave your pets at home. In the end, they’ll be glad you did. I know Ginger will be. Better still, I will bring her back a special treat for having retained her Buddha-like tranquility while I was away. There will be quite a few vendors with lots of pet goodies to choose from:

* My Buddy ‘N Me on South Broadway, a pet shop specializing in organic food and holistic pet care and supplies, plus the new pet grooming station.
* Dognique featuring dog products and pet accessories will have a booth on Main St.
* Natural Herbal Supplement for Dog Tears to remove unsightly stains will have a booth on Main St.
* And if you want to help an animal in need, stop by the Hi-Tor Animal Care Center’s booth on Main St. and learn more about pet adoption.

Please spread the word to your out-of-town friends and family who may not be aware of the ordinance. We certainly don’t want folks coming to enjoy the fair and not be able to because they unknowingly brought their pets.

Our informal discussion will be followed by an interactive Q and A, so all are encouraged to participate.

You can register and receive conference information by going to www.agapelive.com.

Hope to hear from you during the teleconference.